


rooftop romance

by intothewoodz



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Fluff, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, it's been so long i forget how to tag, kinda?? they live in the same building??, not that i ever really knew how
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:48:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24366805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intothewoodz/pseuds/intothewoodz
Summary: When Seungwoo goes up to the rooftop of his apartment building in the middle of the night, the last thing he expects is to see another person already there. Still, when Seungyoun shoots him a smile that brightens the dark, unlit rooftop, he finds that he doesn't mind at all.
Relationships: Cho Seungyeon | Seungyoun/Han Seungwoo
Comments: 11
Kudos: 50





	rooftop romance

**Author's Note:**

> this isn't really inspired by n.flying rooftop in any way other than the fact that most of it takes place on one but i did listen to it a lot while writing this lol

Ever since he moved into this apartment complex, Seungwoo has loved to take advantage of the fact that it allows its residents to go up to the rooftop. It’s not particularly polished and there’s not much up there, but he finds that it’s nice to look out over the city lights. He comes up here after a stressful work day or whenever he needs to relax.

In his two years of living here, he’s never once run into someone else on the rooftop, likely because he only goes during late hours, when most residents are asleep. That’s why he’s all the more surprised when he opens the door to the rooftop at 3 AM to find someone else already there.

The stranger is simply leaning against the ledge, silently looking out at the view, so immersed in it that he doesn’t seem to hear the sound of the door opening. Seungwoo wonders if he should ask to join him or just quietly retreat back to his own room.

He’s tired from a long day at work and more social interaction is the opposite of what he was looking for when he came up here, but for some reason, he feels drawn to the stranger. He figures it’s not a bad thing to get to know his neighbors better.

“Hey,” he says gently, trying not to alarm the other.

This attempt is rather futile though because the other man is clearly startled by his presence and jolts up, quickly turning around in search of the source of the noise.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Seungwoo adds apologetically.

“No, it’s okay. I, uh, didn’t hear the door, uh…” He pauses, not knowing how to address him.

“I’m Seungwoo. Han Seungwoo. I live on the fifth floor.”

“I’m Cho Seungyoun. I live on the second.” The stranger, Seungyoun, smiles at him and Seungwoo feels as if the dark, unlit rooftop gets a little brighter from the sight of it.

“So Cho Seungyoun of the second floor, what brings you up to the roof on this fine night?”

“Technically, it’s past midnight, so shouldn’t it count as morning?” he jokes.

“Fine, be like that,” Seungwoo scoffs. “What brings you up here this _morning_ then?”

“I could ask the same thing to you, since you technically came up here later than me. I could’ve come up at a perfectly reasonable hour and simply lost track of time while you are the one arriving at 3 AM.”

They may have only just met mere minutes ago, but joking around with Seungyoun feels comfortable. Seungwoo finds that a light chuckle escapes him quite naturally. “If you’re really gonna be like this, then I’ll have you know that I’ve been coming up here for years now. It helps me relax when I’m stressed.”

“Why are you stressed?” he asks, with genuine concern. It’s a bit odd to receive such care from someone who’s practically a stranger to him, but it doesn’t seem to bother him. In fact, something about Seungyoun, his gentle smile or the calm lilt of his voice, makes Seungwoo tempted to spill all of his worries and concerns to him right there and then.

But he stops himself. Because as much as he’s strangely tempted to share parts of himself with Seungyoun, he feels an equally strong desire to learn more about him as well. “Don’t you think it’s your turn to answer the question?” he counters.

“I guess that’s fair. I have trouble falling asleep sometimes and I thought some fresh air would be nice.”

“Do you come up here often? I’m surprised I’ve never run into you before.”

“It’s only been a few times so far. I moved in pretty recently.”

“Is there something bothering you that’s keeping you from falling asleep so often?”

“Hey, going by your logic, I think it’s your turn to answer a question,” Seungyoun teases.

Seungwoo suddenly realizes he’s practically interrogating the other man and quickly looks away in embarrassment. “Sorry, I’m not trying to be intrusive.”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind,” Seungyoun reassures. “To answer your question, I’ve always been a bit of a night owl. There’s nothing particularly bothering me, but I guess I tend to get lost in my thoughts a lot and sometimes I just need to clear my head.”

“I think I know what you mean. Sometimes thoughts can be loud. Not necessarily negative, but just loud.”

“Yeah, exactly.” Seungyoun smiles. “Anyway, to be fair, I think now you owe me some answers.”

“Ask away.”

“Let’s start with the one you skipped. What’s stressing you out?”

“It’s nothing serious. It was just a hectic day at work.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m an audio engineer at a news station. I work on an evening broadcast, so I work pretty late hours, which is why I only ever get the chance to come up here in the middle of the night.”

“Do you like your job?”

“Diving straight into the hard questions now, are we?” Seungwoo jokes. “I don’t think any child really dreams of working the audio of a news show, but it pays the bills. It was as close to music production as I could get without living in a cardboard box.”

“You wanted to be a music producer?”

“Isn’t it about time for me to ask the questions?”

“Sorry, I lost track,” he says sheepishly. Seungwoo finds it endearing.

“Well, now that you know what I do, tell me about your job.”

“What would you say if I told you I’m actually a music producer?”

“I guess that depends. Are you one?”

“Yeah. It’s why I’m also able to be up here at 3 AM on a random Wednesday.”

“I guess music was your dream too?”

Seungyoun nods. “I’ve loved it since I was little. There’s nothing else I can imagine doing.” He glances nervously at Seungwoo after he says it, seemingly afraid to have offended him.

“You don’t have to look so scared,” Seungwoo chuckles. “It doesn’t bother me.”

“Sorry, I just—I don’t want to be insensitive.”

“Don’t worry, really,” he reassures. “In fact, tell me more.”

The other tilts his head in confusion. “Hm?”

“What’s it like being a music producer? Maybe I can live vicariously through you,” he laughs.

“It’s not as glamorous as some people would think. Sometimes I’m stuck in my tiny studio all day and half of my lyrics are probably written while lying on the couch after having not had human contact for days. But it’s fun. Music is important to me.”

Even without him saying it, Seungwoo can tell as much from the fond smile plastered across Seungyoun’s face as he talks about it. They may have just met, but he wonders if one day Seungyoun will show him his studio and let him see his songwriting process in person. Seungwoo isn’t entirely sure where this curiosity is coming from, but he feels like he needs to find out more about the person sitting next to him.

So he asks. He learns that Seungyoun is a few years younger than him and had been composing songs on his own all throughout college, earning him a job offer at his current company right after graduation. He tries to downplay it, saying it was just luck, but Seungwoo can tell he’s just being humble.

He doesn’t even realize how much time is passing, the two of them talking as comfortably as if they’re old friends. Seungyoun tells him more about his music and asks about Seungwoo’s job in return. Soon, they’re trading wild old college stories and the rooftop is filled with laughter.

Still, Seungwoo’s not invincible and slowly starts to feel the effects of drowsiness weigh down on him, letting out a yawn. “What time is it?”

Seungyoun reaches for his phone, which has been neglected for the majority of the time, both of them engrossed in the conversation. “It’s already past four.”

“We’ve been out here quite a while then, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess it’s time to head back inside,” Seungyoun says, though Seungwoo thinks he senses a bit of disappointment in his voice. He’s glad to know that he’s not the only one who’s reluctant to go.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Seungwoo agrees. “But we should do this again.”

Seungyoun smiles at him. “I’d like that a lot.”

They part at the stairwell door on the fifth floor as Seungwoo turns to go back to his own apartment and Seungyoun continues down the staircase, but not without one last wave of goodbye and a promise to meet again.

If he weren’t so tired, maybe Seungwoo would’ve thought to set up a specific time for said meeting to take place, but his brain is only filled with the desire to jump straight into bed. It’s not until he wakes up in the middle of the afternoon the next day that he realizes he has no way of contacting Seungyoun to make sure that it actually happens. Great.

With a sigh, he pulls himself out of bed and goes to make himself some breakfast, though it’s probably closer to lunch at this point. Eventually it comes time to get ready for work and the rest of the day passes rather uneventfully.

When he gets back home that night, he briefly wonders if he should check the rooftop to see if Seungyoun is there again today. Still, he might not even be there and Seungwoo also doesn’t want to come off as desperate if he is.

Instead, he lies in bed, trying to direct his thoughts to anything but the man whom he had met only one night ago.

* * *

Seungwoo spends Friday and Saturday night dragged out by his friends who insist that he needs to go out more. In Chan’s words: “We’re still in our youth! You can’t already start acting like an old man!”

Regardless, as much as Seungwoo feigns annoyance at them, he’s grateful to have such great friends and he can’t deny that he has a great time. It does leave him exhausted and not wanting to do anything for all of Sunday though, so after coming back from the broadcasting station Sunday night, he flops down on his bed immediately.

On Monday, he goes up to the rooftop, but is disappointed to find that Seungyoun isn’t there. He stays for a little while anyway, taking in the view. When it starts to get a bit chilly, he heads back inside, not feeling as refreshed as he normally does after going up to the rooftop. Seungwoo thinks he knows the reason why, but he’s not sure there’s much he can do about it.

It’s not until Wednesday, one week after their first meeting, that Seungwoo once again finds Seungyoun.

This time, it’s Seungwoo who is there first and truthfully, he’s about to give up and head inside when he hears the click of the door. Quickly snapping his head around, he’s relieved to see the person he’s been waiting for walk through the door.

“Hey,” Seungwoo greets with a smile. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Well, who else were you expecting to see up here this late at night?”

Seungyoun naturally comes to take a seat next to Seungwoo. No one would’ve been able to guess that they were barely more than strangers and that this was only their second ever meeting. The two of them just seemed to fall into place next to each other.

“Hyung,” Seungyoun calls, getting his attention.

“Hm?”

“Have you ever thought about how if two people on directly opposite sides of the world each drop a slice of bread at the exact same time, the Earth becomes a sandwich?”

Seungwoo stares at him incredulously for a moment, before bursting into laughter. It’s the type of laugh that has him bent over, clutching his stomach, and struggling for air. Seungwoo can’t remember the last time he laughed this hard.

When he recovers enough to look back up at Seungyoun, he finds that the younger is pouting at him. “It’s a serious question,” he huffs.

It takes all of Seungwoo’s willpower to resist the urge to coo over how adorable Seungyoun is being, but he has a feeling the younger really wouldn’t appreciate that and he’s not trying to get on his bad side. Quite the opposite, actually, so he holds it in and instead contemplates Seungyoun’s question, ridiculous as it may be.

He hums in consideration. “Doesn’t that depend on your definition of a sandwich?”

“You can’t counter the question with a question! That’s not fair!”

“But it’s a valid question! Is the defining part of a sandwich the two slices of bread?”

“Of course. What else would it be?”

“Consider an open-faced sandwich. There’s only one piece of bread, but it’s still called a sandwich. How does that work then?”

“That doesn’t count. It’s clearly a misnomer.”

“Who decides that? Language is transient and ever-changing. Who’s to say that the definition of a sandwich can’t evolve too?”

Seungyoun hesitates, clearly stumped and unable to think of a comeback this time. Seungwoo smiles in triumph before realizes he how ridiculous it is to be so seriously debating the definition of a sandwich and a light chuckle escapes him.

“Are you making fun of me again?” the younger asks sulkily.

“I would never.”

Seungyoun rolls his eyes at him. “Hyung, that might be more convincing if you weren’t still laughing at me.”

“I’m not laughing at you! I swear!” he exclaims, raising his hands in surrender. “You’re just cute.”

Seungwoo watches as Seungyoun’s eyes widen slightly and he wonders if he’s crossed a line by admitting that. He’s reassured when a few moments later, even in the dark, he detects a slight blush tinting the younger’s cheeks.

He retracts his previous statement. Seungyoun isn’t just cute. He’s _adorable._

* * *

Seungwoo realizes once again realizes too late that he has forgotten to get Seungyoun’s number or any viable method of contacting him. All he knows is that he lives on the second floor, if he’s even remembering that correctly from their first meeting, but it’s not like he can go downstairs and knock on every door until he finds Seungyoun. Well. He technically could, but that would probably be extremely creepy and weird and he refuses to do that. Seungwoo’s not quite that desperate. Yet.

However, that idea seems more and more promising as the week progresses because it starts to rain every single day. Even when he goes out during the day and the sky seems to be clearing up, by the time it gets to night, the clouds come back to rain on his parade. Literally.

Seungwoo wonders what he must have done to wrong Mother Nature for him to be this unlucky with the weather. When the announcer comments on the poor weather during the daily news, Seungwoo barely resists the urge to bang his head against the soundboard in front of him out of frustration. He doesn’t though, because he would inevitably mess up all the audio controls during a live broadcast and he’d likely get fired. Also, he imagines it would hurt quite a bit.

Realistically, he knows it hasn’t been that long. In fact, they haven’t even known each other for that long, so a short time apart shouldn’t matter to him so much. And yet, here he is, nearly driven insane after not seeing Seungyoun for just a couple of days.

Seungwoo promises himself that the next time he sees him, he’ll remember to ask for his number _no matter what_. After all, relying on the weather and pure chance, just hoping that Seungyoun will be at the rooftop isn’t a practical option, especially since the weather will inevitably start to get colder.

Luckily for him, he no longer needs to worry about that because it turns out that next time comes sooner than he expected, though not at all in the way that he expects it to.

Seungwoo is discouraged by the fact that the rain hasn’t let up by the time he gets off from work, sighing in defeat at another missed chance to try and catch Seungyoun on the rooftop. Still, he decides to stop by the 24-hour convenience store near his apartment to pick up some snacks before he goes home. He’s browsing the selection of chips when he hears a familiar voice call out to him.

“Seungwoo-hyung?” the voice questions.

In his surprise, Seungwoo drops the bag of chips he’s holding and when he turns around to greet the newcomer, he finds himself face to face with none other than Seungyoun.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” the younger says, echoing the same words from their first meeting.

“I guess this is your revenge after I scared you on the rooftop, huh?”

“Yeah, you caught me,” Seungyoun laughs, playing along. “Grabbing a snack after work?”

Seungwoo nods in confirmation. “What about you?”

“I was hoping a snack would spark some inspiration. Can’t work on an empty stomach, right?”

“You’re planning on going back to work after this?”

“I mean, _work_ makes it sound so serious. It’s more like casual brainstorming, seeing if any ideas come to me.”

“Would it help to have company?” Seungwoo says hesitantly, afraid that he's asking too much. He quickly amends, “Or not! I wouldn’t want to distract you. Sorry, pretend I didn’t ask.”

“Wait! I’d like that a lot actually,” Seungyoun smiles reassuringly at him. “Since it’s raining, and we can’t go up to the rooftop, would you like to come to my apartment?”

Seungwoo nods dumbly, shocked, but also extremely pleased by how this is playing out.

“I don’t have much at home, but I can show you some of the music I’ve been working on lately, if you’d like? It’d be nice to have a second opinion.”

“I don’t know how much my feedback is worth, but I’ll do my best to help.”

“It’s worth plenty,” Seungyoun assures. “Come on, let’s go before it gets too late.”

“As if that’s ever been an issue for us,” Seungwoo says with a roll of his eyes.

Still, he follows Seungyoun to the cash register, in a significantly better mood than he was before he entered the store. He’s never been more grateful to have a sudden craving for potato chips.

* * *

Seungwoo finds himself on the rooftop with Seungyoun once more, this time after having texted him first to make sure he’d be there. The uncertainty and guesswork from before no longer necessary.

Still, he’s the one who arrives first and for the few minutes where he waits for Seungyoun, the rooftop feels strangely empty. He had always enjoyed being alone up here before and hadn’t found any problem with it for years, but it’s different now. It doesn’t feel right when Seungyoun’s not here.

Standing next to the stairwell door, he hears Seungyoun’s footsteps and greets him with a smile as he steps onto the rooftop.

In lieu of a greeting, Seungyoun walks up to Seungwoo and plants a chaste kiss on his cheek, sending a smile of his own in return.

“Well, hello to you too,” Seungwoo laughs.

“Where’s my kiss?” Seungyoun pouts.

“Not even a 'hello' or 'how was your day?' first? Just gonna show up and demand kisses?” Despite the teasing in his words, Seungwoo cups Seungyoun’s face and swiftly places a kiss on his forehead. “Happy?”

“Very,” the younger affirms cheerfully, walking over to the ledge with Seungwoo trailing behind.

“It’s a little bit cloudy today, huh?”

“The moon’s out, but the stars are hidden today,” Seungyoun comments sadly.

“It’s okay, you shine brighter than all the stars anyway,” Seungwoo replies, sending him a signature smile.

Seungyoun scoffs at him. “I’ll never get used to how cheesy you can be.”

“Ah, come on, you know you love it.”

“I tolerate it at best.”

“You’re so mean,” Seungwoo whines. “I’m just trying to express how much I adore you and this is how you treat me.”

“There are plenty of other ways to express that which don’t require saying stuff like that.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Like this,” Seungyoun says, wrapping a hand around the back of Seungwoo’s neck and bringing the other to cup his cheek, pulling him into a kiss.

Seungyoun’s kisses are addictive and Seungwoo loses himself in them. The younger really wasn’t kidding when he said he would express his feelings through it either. The kiss screams of tenderness and affection, making Seungwoo’s heart swell. Seungyoun’s mouth against his is enthusiastic, eager to explore, but also gentle and tender, only taking as much as Seungwoo will give him.

Seungwoo gives him everything. He lets the younger do as he pleases, entranced by the feeling of plush lips against his. Seungyoun’s kiss is sweet and makes him feel like he’s on a sugar high, senses flooded with the light fluttery feelings that he thought only existed in fiction.

When Seungyoun pulls away, the younger sends him a smile filled with so much warmth and it’s utterly dazzling. He knows he just got told off for being cheesy, but Seungwoo swears he’s not at all exaggerating when he says Seungyoun’s smile could light up the entire night sky. After all, it lights up _his_ world for sure.

“Okay, you win,” Seungwoo says, still a little bit out of breath. “That’s a much better way of expressing it.”

“I’m glad you’ve come to see it my way. How would you like to try it out for yourself?”

“Don't mind if I do,” he says, pulling Seungyoun into a kiss of his own. Needless to say, the younger doesn’t mind at all.

When it starts to get a bit chilly, Seungwoo pulls Seungyoun closer, encouraging him to snuggle into his side. “Should we go back inside?” he asks.

“Yeah, your place or mine?”

“My place is closer,” Seungwoo says.

“I mean, displacement-wise, we’re technically right above mine. Yours is all the way on the other side of the building” the younger counters cheekily.

“Yes, but considering we live in a three-dimensional world, I think it’s more important that my apartment is significantly fewer flights of stairs away.”

“Fair enough.”

Seungyoun lets himself be pulled out of his seat and towards Seungwoo’s apartment, wrapping his arm around his shoulders and playfully leaning his entire body weight against him.

“You’re heavy,” Seungwoo whines. “Were you gonna make me drag you all the way down to the second floor while clinging onto me like this?”

Seungyoun bats his eyelashes at him innocently. “You don’t know that.”

“Somehow, I think I do,” he sighs. “You’re lucky I like you.”

The arms around him squeeze tighter in response. “I am lucky,” he affirms. “And I like you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!!!
> 
> i hope that was ok!!! T^T i feel like it's been so long since i posted ryeonseung so i tried to finish this as quickly as possible but i lowkey got really lazy while editing/proofreading lol
> 
> i would love for you to leave me a comment or come be my friend on twt @wooloodz


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